Candidate who wore makeup to be Kanye: I’m ‘farthest thing from a racist’

If Kanye West had not interrupted Taylor Swift at the 2009 VMA Awards, none of this would have happened.

It was that moment that inspired Karl Eversmeyer and his wife to attend a costume party at a friends house dressed as the two with Karl, who is white, coloring his face to look like West. Eversmeyer, who played a zombie in the haunted hayride, colored his face many time for his role. Actually, they were the only two white people at the party, Eversmeyer said when he came on my show on New Jersey 101.5.

"It was my friend, his cousins and friends" says Eversmeyer, who is running for Westampton committee as a Republican. "No one even thought of it as being a racist gesture."

Karl's friend Phil G., who threw the party, posted as much on Facebook. Eversmeyer and his wife even won the costume contest.

Fast forward 10 years and now Democratic Township Committeeman Tony De Silva and former mayor Carolyn V. Chang have condemned the photos from the party as racist and disgusting and have demanded that Eversmeyer drop out of the race.

What's disgusting to me is that they would take this man who's shown no sign of racism or prejudice his entire life and put this on him. Eversmeyer's not dropping out of the race, nor is he backing down.

"I've been out putting up my signs, talking to the community, being part of the community," Eversmeyer said. "My opponent really hasn't done anything. I'm guessing this was their plan: don't do a thing, sit back, call him a racist, job's done."

As for the racist part, Eversmeyer said: "I'm not backing down, there's no reason to because I'm not a racist, I'm the farthest thing from a racist."

The Republican party is disavowing Eversmeyer's candidacy.

"I'm good friends with the other candidate. I'm not mad. I understand where they're coming from," Eversmeyer said.

Racism to me is not about costume party pictures from 10 years ago. It's about what's in your heart. When I heard what was being said about Eversmeyer, I thought it best to get him on and hear what's in his heart. Listen to the interview and see for yourself. There was nothing racist to me.

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